Tag Archives: cybersecurity

CISA or the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 has not been passed yet. It could be up for a vote as early as next week but it appears that it might be delayed until fall. President Obama has made no promises to veto this bill. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) believes that grassroots activism can kill this bill like it has other bad cybersecurity legislation in the past.

So, what is CISA? The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 was intended to balance security and privacy. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Senator Richard Burr said that fifteen new amendments to the bill were designed to protect internet users’ personal information while enabling new ways for companies and federal agencies to coordinate responses to cyber attacks, according to a Wired article from January.

Critics of the bill argue that the bill does nothing to boost security and does nothing to prevent major cyber attacks that endanger the privacy of individuals. EFF argues that the bill encourages companies to share private information with the government and gives them sweeping liability protection when they do so.

“CISA is fundamentally flawed because of its broad immunity clauses for companies, vague definitions, and aggressive spying powers,” says the EFF Week of Action page, “Combined, they make the bill a surveillance bill in disguise. The bill may even make things worse for Internet users in several ways. That’s why we’re launching a week of action to make sure Congress is getting the message loud and clear: CISA must not pass.”

Organizations that have joined with EFF for Week of Action include the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Library Association, The Constitution Project, and Freedom of the Press Foundation. EFF has a list of organizations that will be participating in the Week of Action and will update it as new organizations join the fight to #StopCISA.